Are you a hoarder or a minimalist?

Here’s an article from LiveScience: Inside A Hoarder’s Brain, which caught my attention because I thought of Asaf and his ilk.

I was a hoarder as a kid but these days I’m more inclined to throw things out. I’m sure there are a number of reasons for this:

1. I’m now the one who has to tidy the house, and I’ve noticed that the fewer things you have, the easier it is to keep the place tidy.

2. We’re living in an increasingly throwaway society, in which it’s easier to be of the mindset that even if you throw something out and regret it later, you can always go out and buy a new one. We had a garage sale a couple months back and of course we ended up selling a couple of things I’ve since wish we kept. The regret isn’t as big as you might predict; few functional items are truly irreplaceable, and the space you gain from getting rid more than compensates for the occasional seller’s regret.

3. When you’re a kid you don’t have your own money, so you can’t easily go out and buy a new anything.

Are you a hoarder or a minimalist?

Is it possible to be a hoarder in some areas but a minimalist in others?

Have you changed your sorting and filing habits over the course of your life?